The Supreme Court of Canada struck a brave blow on Friday for LGBTQ students who would be compelled to attend a proposed law school at Trinity Western University \u2014 a small, private, evangelical Christian school in Langley, B.C., whose \u201ccommunity covenant\u201d prohibits sexual relations except among married men and women.<\/p>\n
That is to say, they struck a blow for nobody.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents who do not agree with the religious practices do not need to attend,\u201d former chief justice Beverley McLachlin wrote. \u201cBut if they want to attend, for whatever reason, and agree to the practices required of students, it is difficult to speak of compulsion.\u201d<\/p>\n
McLachlin was nevertheless part of the 7-2 majority upholding the British Columbia and Ontario law societies\u2019 decision not to accredit Trinity\u2019s graduates. The societies, as delegated wielders of government power, argued doing so would effectively grant the government\u2019s imprimatur to the covenant and erect \u201cinequitable barriers on entry to the profession\u201d: there would be 60 more law school places available, and some would effectively be unavailable to LGBTQ students thanks to the covenant.<\/p>\n
The court decided that was a reasonable application of the law societies\u2019 mandates to oversee the legal profession.<\/p>\n
And in so ruling they helped \u2026 nobody. Again. Indeed, they might just have killed Trinity Law before it ever admits a student \u2014 though Earl Phillips, head of the program, says he suspects there are \u201cmany options\u201d available other than the obvious ones: abandoning either the covenant or the law school.<\/p>\n
The implications of the ruling are potentially massive. \u201cCanada has a tradition dating back at least four centuries of religious schools which are established to allow people to study at institutions that reflect their faith and their practices,\u201d McLachlin wrote in her concurrence. Many have always admitted students of other faiths (or none), on the condition they respect institutional mores. Today many such institutions receive public money to teach elementary and secondary students. Yet the highest court in the land has decided it\u2019s fine for a government actor to discriminate against grown men and women who want to assemble freely in an entirely private religious institution to learn the law.<\/p>\n
It did so in a decision that\u2019s sloppily argued and full of contradictions. Notably, it credits the law societies\u2019 quest for a diverse legal profession without ever considering that an evangelical Christian law school would obviously contribute to that goal. And it veers wildly off the beaten path in an effort to downplay the obvious impingement on the Trinity Western community\u2019s religious freedoms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n